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(No Model.)

F. P. SCHULTZJ SHOE LACE FASTENBR.

Patented May 17 My m m Q 6 fi/ my.

a tomato lUNrrnn TATES ATENT FRED P. SCHULTZ, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOE-LACE FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 604,126, dated May 17, 1898.

Application filed May 26 1897- Serial No. 638,204. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRED P. SCHULTZ, residing at New York, in the county of New York and the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Shoe-Lace Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to certain improvements in shoes, and more particularly to an improved fastener for the laces generally employed.

An object of the invention is to provide a lace-fastener for shoes whereby after the shoe has been laced the free ends of the lace can be securely fastened without the necessity of tying a knot, as is now generally the case.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved lace-fastener for shoes whereby the lace can be securely fastened at the upper portion of the shoe against any possibility of loosening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lace-fastener so constructed that the fastening device adapted to receive the lace will be carried by said lace when in a locked position, so that there will be no necessity of attaching such fastening device to the shoe.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangements of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter described, and specifically pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe, showing my fastening device in operative position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the fastener detached from the shoe. Fig. 3 is a front elevation. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of slightly-modified form.

Like letters of reference mark the same parts wherever they occur in the various figures of the drawings.

In the practical embodiment of my invention I have shown a shoe A, provided with eyelet-holes and hooks for the reception of the lacing B.

0 indicates the fastener by which the upper free ends of the lace are secured, this fastener being formed of a single piece of wire and bent around, as shown, so as to form coils D and central loop E, the loop being adapted to bear against the shoe to prevent the said fastener turning on the lace after it is secured in position.

By forming the central loop E as shown provision is made for turning the spring-coils F G in'the same direction, so that the free ends of the said coils may be bent forwardly and the lace can be secured in the spaces I between the turns thereof. The free ends of the coils are preferably pointed, as shown at J, so that after the lace has been secured in position the pointed ends may be passed through the lace, thereby more securely binding the lace to the fastener.

The modified form in Fig. 4 has the loop formed in a tangential plane with reference to the coils, which simply changes the direction of coiling, but in no wise alters the operation of the device.

The operation of the device will be readily understood and may be stated as follows: The shoe is first laced as usual. The free ends of the lace are then passed through the coils D in opposite directions, then passed into the space between the turns of the open portions of the coils next to their outer extremities, where they will be securely held, and there will be no possibility of the lace becoming loose, and the fastener will be held in position against the shoe and prevented from turning on the lace by the loop bearing against the front of the shoe.

The invention is very simple in construction and can be manufactured and sold at a slight cost, and by its use I am enabled to secure the laces withoutthe necessity of tying a knot.

When the shoe is not being worn, the fastener can be readily removed, or, if desired, can be permitted to remain on one end of the lace.

While I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact construction and arrangement shown and described, but

hold that such slight changes and variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall Within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

A shoe-lace fastener, composed of a single piece of spring-Wire bent to form two adjacent coils for the passage of the lace, a loop connecting said coils, extending therefrom in a plane tangential thereto, and the forwardly- 1o projecting, pointed ends, as and for the purpose set forth.

FRED P. SCHULTZ. 'Witnesses:

NELSON M. STEVENS, G. MARION WHITE. 

